2____________
WedNEsdAy,
O cto I jer
10,
2001
Letters______________
Opinion
Freedom, a new reason to stand tall, proud
; On Sept. 11, 2001, Americans
g weip struck down with terror and
pain, but as the tragedy gripped
our hearts and the death toll rose,
Americans discovered a new rea-
son to stand tall and proud and a
renewed reason to fight: freedom.
Our forefathers fought hard for
this great nation. They struggled
to free us from fear of tyranny and
persecution while enabling our
rights to speak freely, to assemble
and to bear arms. Many know of
the Civil War and World War I
and II, where Americans fought
to
free
those who
those who
could not
wage their
own war
because
they were
too afraid of
an enemy
too great. Today, we find our
selves faced with the same great
burden. Today, we will not only
be fighting for the freedoms of all
Americans and their way of life,
but also for those who cannot
stand with us, those who were
silenced when the mighty towers
fell.
I am proud, proud because as
an American and as a woman, I
have the right to learn, to speak,
to write, and most importantly to
live. As for the terrorists, I am
saddened that the regime they
consider themselves a part of, the
Taliban, has managed to skewer
their beliefs and made them fol
low its beliefs rather than their
own. I am sad because many died
for their cause, but I am glad, for
many more will live. You see, I
don’t hate the Taliban or al-Qaida.
I pity them. I pity them because
each person involved in these
groups strongly believed what
they were doing was right. They
believed in their cause and in the
people they followed. I blame their
leaders for forcing their views on
people that wanted a strong hand
to guide them to righteousness,
but in return only found a hand of
Say It Loud
&
Proud!
SalenaDeLaCruz
Opinion Editor
destruction.
As President Bush stated in his
address to the nation on the tragic
day of Sept. 11, “America was tar
geted for attack because we’re the
brightest beacon for freedom and
opportunity in the world. And no
one will keep that light from shin
ing.” I think he about sums up
the reason for attacks in this one
statement. Many people in many
countries see America as the
“Land of the Free,” and many can
only dream of some day making it
here and raising their children in a
nation they consider a far better
one than their own. I welcome ev
eryone of all races, colors, creeds
and religions to join us and unite
for freedom and peace. Now, the
peace I refer to is one that may
only come, about-once we show
the terrorists we will not sit idly
by while our families are used in
sick, twisted plans of vengeance.
We will fight back, heads held
high, shouting for freedom, not
only for ourselves, but also for
those that have been silenced
through death or fear.
Terrorists, I would not want to
be you right now for you are not
fully aware of fight you have
brought upon yourself. On Sept.
11, 2001, you chose the wrong
country and the wrong people.
The military will stand against you
with guns and bombs, yes. But
you have yet to see us the people,
and our resolve, for we will be
standing closely behind with
heads held high and flags pointed
towards the sky. You have not
broken us, merely strengthened
our resolve. For here in the United
States, we are one. We stand
united.
We are Americans. We are one
country, one cause.
All signed letters to the editor should be 500 words or less and will be
considered for publication if submitted by 1 pm the Friday prior to
publication. Letters to the Editor arc subject to editing. We reserve the
¡right to not publish any letter.
Check out our world
Welcome to the 2001-2002
school year and welcome to a new
edition of The Clackamas Print.
I hope all of you had a nice sum
mer vacation and are ready for a
productive and rewarding year
ahead.
Our goal here at 77ie Print is to
provide you the best news, infor
mation and entertainment this col
lege offers. We know you are a
very diverse
student
body and
we hope to
reach all of
you.
We also
want to in
form you
about what
is going on outside of this cam
pus, in our neighborhood, our
community and our world. The re
cent events of Sept. 11 have im
pacted all of our lives and we feel
it’s important to keep you posted
on how this is affecting you as a
student and our college.
This year, we have a strong
group of editors, writers and pho
tographers whose number one job
it is to dig deep into all the dark
corners of the campus, find the
hews and get it out to all of you.
However, it is impossible for us to
know everything that’s going on
at Clackamas, so if you feel there
is something we should know or
write about, drop by Barlow 104
and let us know.
By entertaining you with our
opinion, feature, arts & entertain
ment and sports sections, we hope
to keep you from getting bored.
We want to hear all your com
ments, good or bad. Write us a
“Letter to the Editor.” Our general
e-mail
address
is
cccprint@clackamas.cc.or.us. All
letters must be under 500 words,
signed, and delivered to 77ze Print
office (B 104) by Friday 1 p.m.,prefer
Take a risk!
Maggie Jirasek
ably on a 3 -1/2” floppy disk and saved
as Word 6.0/95. All letters are consid
ered for publication, although we re
serve the right to edit letters for clarity
and brevity;
If you are a writer, artist or photog
rapher and want your work published,
you may submit that for consideration
as well. This is the student newspa
per, your newspaper, and if there is
something you don’t like about us, or
if you have any suggestions, don’t
hesitate to stop by in our office and
tell us so. We promise we won’t bite!
We are students just like you are and
we have deadlines to keep as well.
We do our best and work as hard as
possible to produce a quality news
paper
I Wish the best to all of you and I
hope you have a wonderful year.
America at a crossroads: where do we go from here
JOELSHEMPERT
Contributing Writer
On Sept. 11, 2001, the world
was forever changed, or so goes
popular opinion. In fact the
world at large remained funda
mentally unaltered, while the
United States was initiated into
a global cycle of bloodshed and
suffering—and it is we for once
who must cope with and come to
an understanding of this calam
ity.
As we watched our own die
on live television in the collaps
ing towers of the World Trade
Center, the tragedy of their
deaths was felt by each of us.
Did we feel such an empathic
pang on Aug.l when a suicide
bomber unleashed his final mes
sage on a Sbarro eatery in
Jerusalem, killing 14 people and
hurling bodies as far as across
the street? Or when Israeli heli
copters fired missiles into a Pal
estinian office building nine
days earlier, killing eight, includ
ing two children hit by debris?
"It is time to
practice such
virtues as love,
compassion and
understanding ”
-Joel Shempert
Do we grieve for Macedonia,
or Ireland, or Iraq or, yes, Af
ghanistan? For the truth is that
this disaster or/the East Coast
is not the first tremor. Indeed, it
is the latest and largest link in a
long chain of deadly quakes that
has shaken the rest of the world
and now returned home.
In the wake of the “Attack on
America,” it may be easy to for
get that others go through such
carnage daily, sometimes di
rectly or indirectly at our hands.
And now that we have begun to
reap; that grim harvest, we are
faced with a choice—every one
of us. For lest we forget, ours is
a government of the people; we
all bear the responsibility for
this country’s virtue and vice.
And so, I propose that it is
not our vice but our virtue that
should be celebrated. It may
well be that al-Qaida, or the
Taliban, or any number of other
bogeymen, must be stopped,
even destroyed. It may well be
that America must go to war.
Perhaps. But such an action, to
be a truly virtuous response to
this horror, must be unstained
Editor-in-Chief:
by the bigotry, malice, and ideo
logical isolationism that already
are creeping across our land.
It is time to practice such vir
tues as love, compassion arid
understanding. It is time to re
alize, that many people have been
given reason to hate the United
States—and to begin to truly
understand those reasons; It is
time to recognize, as a people,
that we have often played a sin
ister role on the international
stage—and to- maybe, just
maybe, finally begin to atone for
those sins. It is time to recog
nize that being a great nation
bears great responsibility with
its power—and to exercise that
power to love.
Patriotism is a wonderful
thing. Pride in our identity, and
in the ideals that founded our
country, is essential to our na
tional well-being. But if with this
Webmaster:
Luke Mahan
Maggie Jirasek (x2447)
Staff:
19600 S. M o I a II a A vi . OxrqoK City. Oitqon 97045
(505) 657-6958 txt 2509
C C C P R Ì N I @ C I A C k A M A $ . C C . O R . U S
Opinion Editor/Production Coordinator
Salcna De La Cruz
Copy Editor:
Allison Gcrfin
Sports Editor:
Elena Boryska
Managin Editor:
Lies] Muggli
News Editor
* Frank Jordan
Photo Editor:
Mike Pollock
Business Manager:
Daisy Bain (x2578)
Isaiah Creel
Jesse Gurzynski
Erinn Lcrtcn
Christina McFarland
Daniel Merys
Elisabeth Meyer
Nick Barron
Ben Walker
Leah Bocringa
Secretary:
JoAnne Gale
Advisor:
Patty Mamula (x2310)
patriotism comes the exclusion!
of respect and concern for oth-1
ers, then I want no part of it.I
Whether it is the persecution of!
Arab-Americans, or ignorance!
and intolerance toward Arabs!
abroad, a patriotism tempered!
with hate is as great an evil as!
that which struck on Sept. 11.1
A patriotism expressed in ven!
geance and eagerness to kill is!
merely evil clothed in a differ !
ent name.
Sometimes a tragedy is the first!
necessary step on the road to al
greater good. If we as Americans,!
as human beings, can grow to!
ward love instead of hate, then!
perhaps this could be such a trag-l
edy. I do not hold out hope foil
an end to war—not today, or to!
morrow, or even in this general
tion. But the first step must bel
taken, and once it is, who can sayl *
where the long road may lead? I
The Clackamas Print aims to report the news
in an honest, unbiased, professional manner.
The opinions expressed in The Clackamas
Print do not necessarily reflect those of the
student body, college administration, its fac
ulty, or The Clackamas Print advertisers.
Products and services advertised in The
Clackamas Print are not neccesarily endorsed
by anyone associated with The Clackamas
Print. The advertising rate is $4.75 per col
umn inch. The Clackamas Print is a weekl)
publication and is distributed every Wednes
day except during Finals week. The Clackama
Print Copyright 2001.